Robitaille Park

How to get to the Park :

In Québec City region, on Highway 40 take Exit Le Gendre.

On Le Gendre, North bound, take a right turn on Auclair Street, then left on de la Peltrie Street. You should soon see Parc Robitaille on your left.

The Ancestral Land

In November 1670, three Robitaille brothers, Jean, Pierre and Nicolas, were granted three contiguous lands in the seigneury of Gaudarville, a little west of Québec City, with the mission of clearing them, cultivating them and inhabiting them.

Some time later, Nicolas returned to France and gave his land to his two brothers. In 1693, the eldest Jean sold his land to his younger brother Pierre an went to Québec City.

In the same year 1693, Philippe Robitaille, another brother of the same line but settled in Montréal, married on October 15.

At the end of the seventeenth century, Pierre Robitaille, husband of Marie Maufait, owned the largest piece of land in the seigneury of Gaudarville.

Pierre Robitaille's family, from father to son, remained on this land in Champigny, on the banks of the St-Michel stream, for eight generations, as Renaud Santerre skillfully recounted in his book about the founding families of Sainte-Foy.

No2maisonCouleur The first log house, 30 feet by 20 feet, built by the Robitaille family at the very beginning of the occupation in 1670 or 1671, was passed down by will for a few generations, but its condition deteriorated over the years. An inventory of 1807 says it is in very poor condition, as are the adjacent farm buildings. The original house was later demolished, as were the first farm buildings. The Robitaille family, who occupied the land, rebuilt their home a few times and the last house, still standing at the turn of the 1980s, was demolished to make way for the Park and its recreational facilities.

According to the ˝Coutume de Paris˝, the ancestral land was divided among the heirs with each new generation, but subsequent transactions made it possible to reconstitute most of the patrimony and keep the land in the hands of a Robitaille son.

Many Robitaille descendants have kept the memory of their family roots. One of them, René Robitaille, an engineer from Québec City, had been made aware of this historical treasure by his parents and retained a tenacious emotion. René was very proud of his Robitaille family's origins and campaigned hard to set up an Association of Robitaille Families, which was finally created in September 1988. René was its first president.

New development

When the Québec government built the Charest Highway (440) in the second half of the twentieth century, part of the Robitailles' ancestral land was expropriated. The land was essentially cut in two, which had unfortunate consequences on the use that could be made of the remaining plots: it became impossible to maintain the traditional activities that had ensured the survival of previous generations. The estate was therefore gradually ceded to developers.

When urbanization spread to this part of the region, the subdivision approved by the City provided for a park in the middle of the future residences.

The Robitaille Family Association, which had recently been founded, took on the mandate to convince the city to name this new park after the root family that had cleared this part of the country.

On August 7, 1989, the City of Sainte-Foy passed a resolution confirming that the park would be renamed Robitaille Park.

A monument

No88ParcFleuri Small The Robitaille Family Association obtained permission to erect a commemorative monument there. A Robitaille architect drew up the plans, a Robitaille engineer validated the structure, Robitaille industrialists supplied the granite, and Robitaille contractors poured the concrete and erected it. The City agreed to develop the surrounding land.

The monument to the Robitaille families was officially inaugurated on August 21, 1993, in the presence of many dignitaries at a large gathering initiated by the Association, with the notable participation of a group of Robitaille from Manitoba and a large delegation of cousins from France.

As a symbol of remarkable rootedness, several descendants of the Robitaille families who have permanently occupied the ancestral land for so many generations were also present and honored.

Here is the little history of this Park, told by René Robitaille:

A long time ago, my father showed me this old house, located at the end of a small path from the Ste-Famille road, telling me that "it was the house of our Robitaille ancestors". When the Association was formed, I tried to find this "old house at the end of the road". I found it in the middle of a new residential development. I went to the developer's office where I saw on a wall, the layout plan of the project. Towards the center, there was a space colored in green. I learned that it was the site of a planned park, because the city of Sainte-Foy required the developer to cede 10% of the land under development to the city to develop a local park. This also confirmed what Ovila Robitaille had told us before that there was a park project in the area. And I said to myself, "This park should be called Robitaille Park since it is located on the ancestral land of the Robitailles."

I approached Mr. Serge Forest, Director of the Urban Planning Department, and then Councillor Guy Fillion, who simply advised me to make a written request to the City.

The request was made, and finally, on August 7, 1989, the City of Sainte-Foy accepted by resolution No. 39727, moved by Mr. Guy Fillion, seconded by Mr. Gaston Paradis, and unanimously accepted, the following text:

"That the park located in area 3 of Gaudarville be named Robitaille Park."

(…) It is therefore on this land that we inaugurated our monument, on August 21, 1993.

An inscription for the brides

Epouses In August 2008, on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of the Robitaille Family Association, an inscription in tribute to the three female pioneers, wives of the Robitaille ancestors, was unveiled on the monument: Marguerite Buletez, wife of Jean, Marie Maufait, wife of Pierre, and Madeleine Warren, wife of Philippe, are honored.

For posterity

Robitaille Park is now home to several leisure and sports facilities set up and administered by the municipality to the delight of the residents of the neighborhood.

The Robitaille Family Association still holds commemorative activities there from time to time.

Symbolism of the monument

This monument is a modern sculpture designed to be seen from all sides. From each angle, it presents a different appearance.

Where do these blocks come from? The trapezoid-shaped pink comes from the Lac St-Jean region, north of Alma, while the pale grey, triangle-shaped comes from the Eastern Townships. Black, a deformed cube, also comes from the Lac St-Jean region. The base, greenish in colour, was extracted from the Rivière-à-Pierre quarry, in Portneuf County.

Former president René de Québec, based on the information of his brother André, the designer, gave the following interpretation of the monument:

The pink granite in the shape of a trapezoid is the house, the shelter, the hearth, in short, the center of family life.
The pale grey triangle is the church, the bell tower, where families gather to fraternize and pray.
The magnificent black block is the stylized fieldstone, representing those stones removed to allow farmong and which were used to build the houses and even the church. Similar rocks can still be seen in the Saint-Michel stream, at the far end of the park. The greenish granite base is the foundation of the family, the parish, the city, the country.

This monument therefore represents the symbol of the work of ten generations on this ancestral land. It is also an example of generosity on the part of those who have made it. It will therefore promote pride in belonging to the great Robitaille family, as our motto expresses so well: